Rajput group disrupts screening of Veer

The Karni Singh Sena on Saturday disrupted shows in several theatres in the city of the latest Salman Khan starrer Veer for allegedly distorting facts and hurting sentiments of the Rajput community, reports Ankita Sharma.

The Karni Singh Sena on Saturday disrupted shows in several theatres in the city of the latest Salman Khan starrer Veer for allegedly distorting facts and hurting sentiments of the Rajput community.

Members of the group held demonstrations and threw stones at the entrance to the Triton Mall in Jhotwara and Vaibhav Complex in Vaishali Nagar, breaking some window panes. Police resorted to lathicharge to bring the situation under control. Around 20 protestors were arrested by the police.

“Some 22 members of the Karni Singh Sena have been arrested under Section 151 for disturbing public peace at Vaishali Nagar Police Station,” said station house officer Alok Kumar Saini.

Lalit Ohja, regional general manager at Inox said that the screening of the film would not be stopped.

The Karni Singh Sena is one of the groups of the Rajput community in Rajasthan. They held protests and disrupted shows at Triton Mall, Jhotwara and Vaibhav Complex, Vaishali Nagar in different parts of Jaipur.

Ajit Singh Mandoli, state president of Rajput Karni Singh Sena said, “We are protesting as some facts about Rajputs are totally against our traditions. The film portrays Rajputs as impotent, cowardly and unfaithful.”

Mandoli said one scene in the film showed a Rajput girl being crowned as ruler even though her father is alive, which is against Rajput tradition. “The crowning ceremony can’t be performed when the father is alive, especially for girls,” said Mandoli.

He said the Sena representatives have spoken to the film’s director, Anil Sharma, who has agreed to remove the objectionable scenes that have offended the Rajputs and the director has agreed to remove those scenes from the movie.